Following an enjoyable first season in the Mid Essex League for the 7th XI in 2024, the decision was made for the 6th XI to also change leagues ahead of the 2025 season. The 7th XI had just about maintained their divisional in 2024 so lined up again in Division 9, while the 6th XI went in one level higher as they entered Division 8.

The 6th XI got off to a flying start in their new surroundings as they won their first two games in thrilling fashion, both by one wicket. Week one saw the team travel to Hatfield Peverel 2nd XI, and when the home side posted 225-4 it looked like it would be a fruitless trip for the 6s. However, Avanish Ajmani and Will Court put them into a great position before Harry Bradford, Chris Brabin and Aedan Daly struck late runs as Upminster won from the final ball of the match. It was a similar story at Campion a week later against Ilford Catholic. Catholic made 162-6 from their 40 overs, but Upminster collapsed from 102-2 and 136-5 to 139-9 and seemingly to defeat. Bradford and Tinus Stander had other ideas though and saw their side to another one wicket win. A heavy defeat followed at Woodham Mortimer, but they bounced back against Bentley when runs from Aadit Latey and Harry Bradford and wickets from six different bowlers saw them to a 41 run win. The month did end with a loss, this time against Writtle, although Ray Calder, Ed Knight, Latey and John Oakes all made good contributions with the bat.

For the 7th XI the season started in difficult circumstances when youngster Dylan Brooks sustained a nasty injury in his first ever senior game, against Hutton 4s. Hutton were 133-7 when Brooks was involved in a collision in the field and the game was abandoned. We hope to see Dylan back in action again for the start of the 2026 season. The 7s claimed a fine win a week later at Rankins. Paul Middlemiss, Paul Burley and Oliver White were in the runs before Upminster’s young bowlers Woody Treadwell, Oscar Hayes and Oscar Sousanna all held their nerve in tense conditions to help claim a brilliant five run win. Treadwell and Anay Narbheram were in the wickets a week later during a loss to a strong Old Chelmsfordians 4th XI, and there was a loss a week later against AGHAB 2s despite further wickets from Narbheram. There was a fine win to end the month though, as Rayleigh were beaten by seven wickets. Upminster’s youthful attack of Treadwell, Hayes, Ollie Dignam and Max Bird claimed the wickets as Rayleigh were bowled out for 161 and Paul Burley then made his maiden half century to help pilot Upminster to victory.
June started with frustration for the 6th XI as they were well set to beat Southend when rain came and caused the game to be abandoned, and they were well beaten at Chignal a week later despite the best efforts of Harry Bradford with the bat and Ed Knight with the ball. The winless run continued against a strong Boreham Royals side despite three wickets each for Aadit Latey and Oscar Sousanna and the month ended with a heavy defeat against Basildon and Pitsea. Sousanna was in the wickets again, and Bradford made a brilliant 69 not out, but Basildon proved too strong and won by 127 runs.

The 7th XI also began June with a rain off, but their clash with Chelmsford Super Kings was abandoned before a ball had been bowled. A week later at Galleywood the side put in a disappointing performance and fell to defeat. Lapses in the field allowed Galleywood to reach 226-5 and John French, Sanjay Narbheram and Max Malby were then the only batters to pass 20 as Upminster were all out for 133. It was a total turnaround the following week as Upminster overcame high-flying St John’s at Broxhill Road. George Sheridan and Liam Robertson laid the foundations for a big score before skipper Craig Grote cut loose, smashing 79 from 52 balls to take his side to an excellent 252-5. St Johns were in a good position at 161-2, but Oscar Hayes, Ollie Dignam and Sheridan picked up two wickets each to help Upminster to a 21 run win. The halfway point of the season was reached at the end of June, as Upminster fell to what would turn out to be a costly loss at Great Totham. Only Grote and Paul Middlemiss made any kind of contribution with the bat as Upminster collapsed to 99 all out on a difficult track. However, Woody Treadwell, Hayes and Anay Narbheram then reduced Totham to 68-7 as Upminster sensed a famous win, before an unbeaten 49 from Sam Yeates saw his side to a narrow three wicket win.

The 6th XI started the second half of the season with a narrow loss to Hatfield Peverel. Peverel made 209-7 and Upminster then made a solid but rather slow start to the chase, leaving them with a lot to do in the final 12 overs. Harry Bradford then smashed 73 from 53 balls to put his side in with a chance, but they fell 10 runs short of their target. Ilford Cathloic were not able to fulfil the league game the following week, meaning Upminster climbed into the top half of the table with the points, but the two sides did play a friendly which saw Thomas Brabin make a brilliant 123 not out in a 69 run win. The home game with Bentley fell victim to two days of heavy rain, before July finished with a defeat at Bentley. Bradford and Chris Brabin were in the wickets for Upminster, but Bentley were still able to post 226-6. Thomas Loveys and Will Court both made half centuries in the Upminster innings but the chase proved to much as Upminster finished on 184-7 to lose by 42 runs.

The 7th XI started the second half of the campaign with one of their best performances of the season to win at Hutton. Anay Narbheram was in superb form as he picked up four wickets, and with Karim Govani and Woody Treadwell both claiming two victims each Hutton were bowled out for 131. Upminster looked in trouble at 0-2 in their reply, but George Sheridan, Matt Burch and skipper Craig Grote saw them to a seven wicket win. A week later Upminster were looking to make it two wins in a row for the first time this season as they entertained Rankins, but they let the visitors recover from 84-6 to make 159, despite excellent spells from Eddie Waters and Sanjay Narbheram. Jack Hayward helped take Upminster to 86-2 in reply, and they still looked in with a shot at 116-6, but collapsed to 130 all out and a 29 run loss. Heavy rain in mid-July meant the long drive to North Essex to face Old Chelmsfordians was a wasted one, before the month finished with a loss to AGHAB. Sheridan and Anay Narbheram were in fine form with the ball, picking up three wickets each, but AGHAB recovered from 70-4 and 144-6 to make 214. Narbheram made 31 in the Upminster reply but at 33-5 and 105-9 an early finish looked likely. Eddie Waters and Woody Treadwell didn’t give up though, and while their last wicket stand of 45 didn’t win the game for their side, it did help them pick up some crucial extra bonus points.

An excellent win over Writtle at the start of August all but secured the 6th XI’s divisional status for 2026. Aadit Latey’s three wickets helped restrict Writtle to 182-8 before George Sheridan led the way in the Upminster reply. He made an unbeaten 69 and with Latey, Thomas Brabin and Will Court also in the runs Upminster cruised to a seven wicket win. The good form continued a week later against struggling Southend. Chris Brabin took three wickets and there were two each for Keya Shah, Thomas Brabin and Harry Bradford as Southend were restricted to 180-9. A second wicket stand between Ray Calder and Thomas Brabin, who both made half centuries, put Upminster on their way to victory before Matthew Castellette and Harry Bradford helped Calder see their side to another seven wicket win. Upminster were now hoping to push for a top half finish, but they lost out against Chignal. Chignal’s powerful batting line up saw them post a formidable 312-6, which always looked like a big score, even on an excellent Campion wicket. Several Upminster batters made starts, and John French made a quickfire 51, but Upminster were bowled out for 200. The penultimate game of the season was an excellent one, even though it eventually ended in a loss to Boreham Royals. Latey and Ralph Moore took a brace of wickets each as Royals made 221-9 on another superb Campion track. Upminster lost early wickets before Gary Carr and Liam Robertson led a fightback and Will Court also made an important contribution. Wickets then tumbled as the required run rate increased and at 185-9 the game looked all over. French and Moore briefly raised hopes with a defiant last wicket stand, before Upminster were eventually all out for 200. Upminster already knew they would almost certainly finish in seventh place ahead of a final day trip to promotion chasing Basildon and Pitsea. Basildon batted first and made 217-8 despite two wickets from Court and another two for Bradford, before Upminster fell to 46-5 in reply despite 33 from Gary Carr. Thomas Brabin and Latey then turned things around completely with a brilliant stand of 116 to suddenly give Upminster a chance of a final day win. However, Basildon hit back and went on to claim a 24 run win, although the home side missed out on promotion by a single point. For Upminster, a very enjoyable first season in the Mid Essex League finished with a seventh place finish in Division 8.

The 7th XI knew they would need two or maybe three wins from five in August to survive the drop, and things didn’t start well as they lost out at home to bottom of the table Rayleigh. Paul Burley and Max Gordon both looked in good form for Upminster, but they were bowled out for 159 in the final over of their innings. Archie Lowe picked up two wickets for Upminster to briefly raise hopes of a victory, but Terry Martin made 81 not out to take Rayleigh to a comfortable win. With only three adults in their side, a trip to promotion chasing Chelmsford Super Kings on one of the hottest days of the year was the last thing Upminster needed, but things didn’t turn out as expected!! Super Kings posted a total of 244-6, but on a flat wicket and lightning-fast outfield Upminster were pleased with their efforts, and Sanjay Narbheram claimed figures of 2-49. When Joe Hibell strode out to the crease to join Anay Narbheram with Upminster’s reply at 10-2 in the sixth over nobody would have predicted what happened next. Hibell and Narbheram put on 81 in just nine overs to get Upminster back in the game and after Narbheram had fallen for 26 Hibell continued in the same fashion with Ralph Moore for company. The pair put on 75 in 12 overs, with Moore making 35. Hibell soon brought up a brilliant century and looked to be taking Upminster to victory before finally falling for 124 from 92 balls, with his side still needing 19 to win from three overs. Archie Lowe and Sanjay Narbheram then held their nerve to see Upminster to a famous four wicket win with eight balls to spare. Unfortunately, as was often the case in 2025, one good performance was followed by a poor one, and so it proved once again as Galleywood easily won at Broxhill Road seven days later. From 50-0 Upminster were bowled out for just 118 and Galleywood won by seven wickets without too much fuss, and results elsewhere meant Upminster fell into the bottom two. Karim Govani rolled back the years a week later at St Johns, as his 5-49 helped reduce the home side to 147-7 but they recovered to make what turned out to be a match-winning 196-9. Paul Burley, Dylan Narbheram, Ralph Burchell and Paul Middlemiss all made decent middle order contributions, but Upminster ended on 166-9. It meant Upminster needed to win their last day encounter with Great Totham and either do it by a big enough margin to bring Totham into trouble or hope Rankins lost at Chelmsford Super Kings. Totham made sure they didn’t get dragged into trouble by batting sensibly and reaching 143-3 and Upminster then hurried to beat the aggressive looking grey skies in their reply. Skipper Craig Grote made 33 from 28 before Ian Munn blasted 65 from 53 and Liam Robertson finished things with a maximum over long on to see Upminster to a seven wicket win. Unfortunately, despite a few nervy moments, a very strong Rankins side won by two wickets in Chelmsford to condemn Upminster to a place in the bottom two, and likely relegation to Division 10 for 2026.

Despite the disappointing fining position of the 7th XI, the season should be deemed a success for both sides in the Mid Essex League. Both teams fielded several young players in their sides every week, including a number from the U13s in their first season of adult cricket. For the 6th XI Harry Bradford led the run scoring charts with 369, but Thomas Brabin, Will Court, Aadit Latey, Ed Knight and Ray Calder all scored more than 200 runs. With the ball it was Chris Brabin who led the way with 22 wickets, but Bradford, Latey, Oscar Sousanna and Thomas Brabin all reached double figures in the wickets column. Batting was the problem for the 7th XI, with only Craig Grote (294) making a meaningful contribution, and nobody else passing the 200 mark. It was a different story with the ball where Anay Narbheram picked up 21 wickets and Woody Treadwell, Sanjay Narbheram and Karim Govani all claimed more than 10 victims through the season. There were also good bowling statistics from youngsters Oscar Hayes and Eddie Waters.

Both sides thoroughly enjoyed the season and the Sporting Marks Tables for the League should also be noted. The 6th XI came second in the Division 8 sporting marks table, and sixth out of 118 in total, while the 7th XI topped the table for Division 9 and came 15th out of 118 in total. With so many youngsters in these sides it is important they learn to play their cricket in the right way, and these marks demonstrate that this was certainly the case in 2025. Everyone involved with both sides is very much looking forward to 2026, whatever divisions both sides are playing in.